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Argos is a British catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a subsidiary of Home Retail Group. The company trades both through physical stores and online, with over 750 stores and 800 million website visits a year, making it one of the largest high street retailers online in the United Kingdom.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=About Argos )〕 Argos was established in 1973 by Richard Tompkins, the founder of the Green Shield Stamps scheme, who rebranded the existing Green Shield Stamps catalogue shops as Argos, before opening new Argos branded stores later in the year. BAT Industries purchased the company in 1979, and in 1990 it was listed on the London Stock Exchange, where it became a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. GUS plc bought the company in 1998, and it became part of the Home Retail Group when GUS split in 2006. In August 2013, it was estimated that 96% of the population of the United Kingdom was within 10 miles of an Argos branch. ==History== The company was founded by Richard Tompkins who had previously established Green Shield Stamps in the United Kingdom. Whilst on holiday in the Greek city of Argos, he came up with the idea that people could purchase goods from his "Green Shield Gift House" with cash rather than savings stamps. He rebranded the original Green Shield Stamps catalogue shops as ''Argos'' beginning in July 1973,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Argos – www.argos.co.uk )〕 the first purpose-built store opening on the A28 Sturry Road, Canterbury in late 1973. Green Shield House was in Station Road, Edgware. Argos was launched with thousands of staff, taking £1,000,000 during a week in November.〔(Milestones and Memories ), Argos. Article. Retrieved 4 March 2007.〕 Argos was purchased by BAT Industries in 1979 for £32 million. In 1980, Argos opened its Elizabeth Duke jewellery counter (named after a director's wife) and by 1982 was the United Kingdom's fourth biggest jewellery retailer. The Elizabeth Duke brand has since been phased out, and replaced with the "Jewellery and Watches" brand. The company was demerged from BAT Industries and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1990. It was then acquired by GUS plc in 1998. It subsequently became part of Home Retail Group which was demerged from its parent company, GUS plc, with effect from 10 October 2006.〔 〕 In late 2009, it was announced that the Argos visual branding would be undergoing changes from 2010. This began on 23 January, with the relaunch of the main shopping website, the websites claim to make shopping with Argos more accessible. The careers website, and the release of the Spring/Summer 2010 catalogue were also relaunched. The company expect that the rebranding process will take "a number of years", at a cost of £70,000,000. In September 2013, Argos announced a click and collect scheme, in partnership with eBay, which will allow customers to collect their eBay purchases from any Argos Store across the UK. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Argos (retailer)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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